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The Tribes
Jalapao
- Law of Chromatic Superiority: They had a winning streak and controlled the game post merge.
- Location Theme Naming: Named after a state park in Brazil.
- Team Spirit: Jalapao got along rather well, especially when compared to Timbira.
- Underdogs Never Lose: Produced the winner, despite the 6-4 deficit at the merge.
Timbira
- A House Divided: Coach was never happy with Brendan taking a leadership role, and moved to overthrow him after the merge.
- Breakout Characters: Coach and Tyson. Both returned multiple times and would go on to be dominant forces in South Pacific and Blood vs. Water respectively.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Except if you're Coach and Tyson, though they're more of a Jerkass than straight evil.
- Divided We Fall: The aforementioned conflict between Brendan and Coach ultimately sinks the tribe. Though Coach successfully blindsides Brendan, he alienates Sierra and Erinn, who abandon any loyalty to Timbira. This turns Timbira's 6-4 advantage into a 4-3 disadvantage from which they can't recover.
- Dwindling Party: Despite entering the merge with a numbers advantage, Timbira got destroyed afterwards due to the above mentioned internal divisions.
The Sole Survivor
James "J.T." Thomas Jr.
J.T. would return for Heroes vs. Villains and Game Changers.
- Batman Gambit: The reason why he votes for Erinn in Coach's boot episode is because he knows that not writing Coach's name down will earn him Coach's jury vote. It works.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Throughout the season, he's generally shown to be a very easy-going, friendly guy. When his tribe blows a lead in an Immunity Challenge and lose, he got pissed and took his frustrations out on Spencer for his poor performance in particular.
- He was also very pragmatic in weaponizing his good old boy persona to make Stephen look bad in the Final Tribal council, appearing hurt at the reveal that Stephen planned on getting him eliminated (something he later revealed was an act and that he didn't actually take personally).
- Born Winner: Never had a vote against him, and controlled his tribe completely
- The Charmer: So much that he won unanimously and everyone seemed to love him.
- The Chessmaster: Just about everything seems to go his way.
- Determinator: At one point he continued to participate in a challenge he had lost a tooth in!
- Farm Boy: From the south and lives... well, on a farm.
- Flawless Victory: The Trope Codifier. No votes cast against him in the game, won with an unanimous Jury Vote, and wins the fan favorite prize.
- Fun with Acronyms: J.T. is the initials of his first and last names.
- Good Ol' Boy: Frequently referred to as one in a positive way by the rest of the cast.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Stephen.
- In-Series Nickname: "The Warrior", as given to by Coach due to his courageous nature. Coach even wrote the nickname on his jury vote for him.
- Kid Hero: Is this, being 24.
- Magnetic Hero: And how. How many people were willing to lay down their chances at winning for him, again?
- The most stand-out example of this is Brendan from the opposing tribe going from "I want J.T. out" to (quoted word-for-word) "If [J.T.] wins it, that's like me winning this game" after spending a single afternoon with him on a reward trip. Does J.T. have some Jedi mind powers or something?
- Manly Tears: His reaction to winning the season.
- Mr. Fanservice: He's looks pretty good.
- No-Damage Run: Which in turn gave him an awesome Flawless Victory.
- Odd Friendship: Him and Stephen, with him being a country boy and Stephen being a nerd from New York. As well as Coach and Tyson.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: J.T.
- Playing the Victim Card: Does a really impressive display of this at the Final Tribal Council after Stephen confesses that he would've taken Erinn instead, where he put on a face of looking heartbroken. He revealed at the reunion that it was all an act.
- Simpleton Voice: Lampshaded by the man himself in one episode when he suggested that everyone else underestimates him because of his thick Alabama accent."I don't know why everyone trusts me so much. In this game, I'm not so trustworthy. It seems like people would catch on to that. It may be the accent, I don't know."
- Sole Survivor: The 18th one.
- Sore Loser: Self-described. He once lost his temper after his tribe lost an Immunity Challenge.
- Southern-Fried Genius: J.T. had a very active social game and was partners with Stephen in strategy.
- Also, consider that a cattle farmer from Alabama managed to give a far more convincing argument for winning the game than the Yale graduate sitting next to him.
- Young and in Charge: 24 and controlled the game with Stephen.
Runner-Up
Stephen Fishbach
Post-Survivor, Stephen became a Survivor Know-It-All and later returned for Survivor: Cambodia.
- Awesome by Analysis: He won his first and only Individual Immunity by memorizing an entire ten-symbol code on his first try, by translating it into a series of numbers.
- Bittersweet Ending: He doesn't get a single vote at Final Tribal Council, but he made a new best friend whose friendship still lasts to this day.
- Brainy Brunette: Well, he's brainy, and has brown hair, so...
- Determinator: Managed to worm himself, J.T. and Taj into the Final 4, despite being down 3-6 at the merge.
- Genius Bruiser: In Real Life he's actually a pretty big guy, and his intelligence goes without saying.
- Guile Hero
- Hard Work Hardly Works: Lost to J.T. in the most one-sided Final 2 in Survivor history.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With J.T.
- In-Series Nickname: "The Wizard", as given to by Coach due to his intelligence.
- Jewish and Nerdy: Described himself as an "angsty New York Jew" in the premiere.
- Mr. Fanservice: Shockingly enough he looks pretty nice without a shirt.
- Odd Friendship: Him and J.T., as explained above. As well as Coach and Tyson.
- Poor Communication Kills: His Final Tribal Council performance proved it.
- Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Him and J.T.
- The Smart Guy: Stephen was the main strategist of Jalapao.
- The Strategist: Did most of the strategizing while J.T. sat back and charmed people.
- Took a Level in Badass: Started the game as an awkward city boy who didn't know how to survive in the wilderness. On a solo trip to Exile Island, he manages to start a fire all by himself. And he also manages to win an Immunity Challenge.
- Wardrobe Malfunction: Had a really unfortunate one at the very start of the game. On the long trek to camp, he somehow managed to get a HUGE rip on the rear end of his pants.
Jury Members
Erinn Lobdell
- All of the Other Reindeer: Nearly all of the Timbiras hated her and most of them didn't bother hiding it, she would've been the second Timbira booted if Jerry hadn't gotten sick, and if Timbira had gone to a third tribal council, she would've definitely been sent packing. Which is ironic because in interviews, she comes off as friendly and polite.
- Butt-Monkey: Poor girl was picked on the whole season.
- Deadpan Snarker: Especially where Coach is concerned - after one of his Cloud Cuckoolander moments:"Who is this jackass?""I think Coach really truly wants to be this, like, Survivor Man. I would not be surprised if when this game is all said and done, Coach said, "Gotcha! I'm an accountant! I've never left Nebraska.""
- Defeat by Modesty: Happened in an Early challenge, thanks to Sandy.
- Foil: To Coach, most certainly.
- Girly Girl: Erinn even called herself the girliest of Girls
- Horrible Judge of Character: Her first impression of Tyson is that he's "a good guy to have around."
- Ms. Fanservice: Many of the male viewers find her very attractive.
- Only Sane Woman: Comes across as this on Timbira.
- Worthy Opponent: Would have most definitely harmed J.T's perfect victory if he took her over Stephen.
Tamara "Taj" Johnson-George
- Celebrity Survivor: The first contestant in the show's history to already have been famous before they were on Survivor. Taj was a member of the R&B trio SWV, who are best known for their 1993 #1 hit single "Weak". She is also married to former NFL player Eddie George.
- Happily Married: As seen in her Exile Island visit.
- Idol Singer: Was this before Survivor
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Taj. Her real name is Tamara.
- Out of Focus: Drifted here post-merge. Pre-merge she was one of the biggest players in the game but eventually the power shifted to J.T. and Stephen and she didn't seem to realize it.
- Sassy Black Woman: Can be this at times.
Benjamin "Coach" Wade
Coach would return for Heroes vs. Villains and South Pacific.
- Animal Battle Aura: Esp. during Zen trip to Exile Island
, either sincere for Warrior Poet or deadpan snark for Miles Gloriosus. - Anti-Villain: Is an example, but he's really more delusional than villainous.
- Breakout Character: Arguably the most known person on the season.
- Butt-Monkey: Probst all but openly mocked him at every opportunity.
- Character Shilling: But not
to the level of Russell Hantz or Boston Rob, and he later became Rescued from the Scrappy Heap in Heroes vs. Villains and South Pacific. - Cloudcuckoolander
- Crucified Hero Shot: He dramatically takes this pose while meditating at Exile Island.
- Designated Hero: In universe example, because he designated himself as The Hero.
- Hypocrite: Spends a lot of time preaching to anyone who would listen about how he planned to play the game with honor and integrity, and yet had zero problem lying to both J.T. and Stephen's faces about Sierra wanting to reunite the former Timbiras to blindside them.
- Meaningless Villain Victory: At the beginning of the merge, Coach finally got his way and voted his nemesis Brendan off. But, that would cause a chain of events to occur where Erin, who felt alienated by the vote, turned on Timbera and got everyone of Coach's allies voted off until he was taken out at the final five. Even getting Sierra, his other nemesis, did little to help him.
- The Münchausen: Not everyone found his stories believable.
- The Nicknamer: Calls J.T. "The Warrior" and Stephen "The Wizard."
- Odd Friendship: with J.T. and Stephen.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: "Coach."
- Playing Sick: In his boot episode, he pleads to J.T. and Stephen to not send him to Exile Island because of a myriad of ailments he claims to be suffering from. Neither of them buy it.
- Self-Applied Nickname: After he blindsides Brendan, he begins to refer to himself as "The Dragonslayer".
- Small Name, Big Ego: Candace once said "the man has an ego the size of Brazil".
- Unknown Rival: To Brendan, to a huge degree.
- Warrior Poet: At one point he randomly begins reciting poetry during Tribal Council.
Debra "Debbie" Beebe
- Action Mom: Debbie does well in challenge, even winning individual immunity once.
- Back Stab Backfire: Her attempt to betray Coach didn't go very well.
- Cool Old Lady: Of course. Debbie was the only woman to win individual immunity this season.
- Hot Teacher: She's a principal.
- Intergenerational Friendship: With Tyson.
- Ms. Fanservice: Debbie looks amazing for a woman in her mid forties.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: She pegged Tyson as a threat to win the season, she was right, just 4 years later.
- Team Mom: To Timbira.
- Younger Than They Look: Does she look 46 to you?
Sierra Reed
- All of the Other Reindeer: See Butt Monkey. Aside from Brendan, she didn't had any friends.
- Break the Cutie: Was broken MANY times by Coach, Debbie and Tyson who all but mocked her to her face.
- Butt-Monkey: Had strep throat before the show began and had just finished antibiotics, has the most votes cast against her in the season, constantly bullied and badmouthed by other players (Especially Tyson).
- The Friend Nobody Likes: Constantly gunned for elimination
- Hope Spot: Voted against Coach in ep. 9. He calmly tells her that she should expect to be booted real soon, as punishment for that vote and for siding with the evicted Brendan earlier. She does quite well in the next Immunity challenge, and is about to be crowned the winner... when Debbie steals victory at the last possible moment. Debbie has one small courtesy to give first...
- But then Tyson was blindsided, as this was the first time he'd failed to win immunity.
- Ms. Fanservice: Is a model in real life.
Tyson Apostol
Tyson returned for Heroes vs. Villains and Blood vs. Water with his Girlfriend, Rachel.
- Beware the Silly Ones: For all his outrageous antics, he is still a challenge beast.
- Breakout Character: While he was taken out relatively early during the post-merge section of the season, his personality and prowess stood out enough that he got his own entry on the 2nd Funny 115 and was brought back multiple times, eventually winning the game in Blood vs. Water.
- The Bully: Mostly towards Sierra, but definitely counts.
- Camp Straight: He acts very flamboyant this season but later appears with his girlfriend on Blood vs. Water.
- Class Clown: Was described as this by his tribemates.
- Deadpan Snarker: All the time.
- Establishing Character Moment: His first impression of Erinn: "The younger brunette? She comes off to me as kind of being... the bitch."
- For the Evulz: Seems to be his motivation for most of what he does.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Explicitly stated he "loves making people cry"
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's a decent guy off the show, but loves causing mayhem on it.
- Karmic Death: His antagonistic relationship with Sierra helps seal his fate in his elimination episode. JT, Stephen, Taj, and Erinn take advantage of the fact that he had lost immunity for the first time and decide to get him out early while they can. Knowing that Sierra was likely to vote against Tyson due to their mutual hatred, the quartet pile their votes on him as well (without even telling Sierra) and send him home with a solid 5-3 majority.
- Naked People Are Funny: Walks around naked early in the game. Needless to say, his tribemates find it funny.
- Number Two: To Coach. He even lampshades it in the memorable "assistant coach" confessional.
- Odd Friendship: With JT and Stephen.
- Oh, Crap!: During the tribal council he's eliminated. He lets out a satisfied smile seeing his name come up the first time, knowing that it's from Sierra and that he got under her skin one last time while they were in the game together. When his name comes up a second time, however, his face immediately turns solemn as he realizes something is wrong.
- The Trickster: Tyson was the the second iteration of the Survivor Trickster archetype following Jonny Fairplay, the prototypical Trickster, whom Tyson brought up multiple times in pre-game interviews as his favorite player. Tyson on Tocantins was a maverick whose impulsive actions like running around naked and cursing contradicted his Mormon religion. So he was a rebel against propriety. He was also very cunning and deceptive, making Brendan believe they had a bond when he was actually plotting Brendan's demise. Furthermore, he intentionally tried to troll Sierra and get under her skin frequently.
Brendan Synnott
- Disc-One Final Boss: He had an Idol, he had an alliance that spanned both tribes, and he was blindsided at the first Tribal Council after the merge..
- The Leader: Was nominated in this role by Timbira.
- Mr. Fanservice
- Only Friend: Very much Sierra's only ally in the game.
- The Strategist: Definitely, but too overtly so.
- Unknown Rival: He had no clue how badly Coach and Tyson wanted him out.
Voted Out
Joe Dowdle note
- Foreshadowing: The moment that Joe hurt his knee was emphasized when it happened.
- Game-Breaking Injury: One very reminiscent of Jonathan's in Micronesia
- Glass Cannon: One of Jalapao's strongest members, but...
- I Coulda Been a Contender!: Until his medevac.
- Nice Guy: He was very well-liked by other the other contestants, Erinn in particular
- Non-Gameplay Elimination: Which spared him from being...
- Southern Gentleman: Described as by his bio and it showed.
- Unwitting Pawn: Was strung along by Sydney prior to the merge, and was duped by Stephen's fake Immunity Idol.
Sydney Wheeler
- Ambiguously Bi: Sydney flirted a lot with Joe, but she mentioned in a tribal council that being flirty is apart of her nature and that she flirts with women too.
- Hidden Depths; She started the fire for Jalapao the first day
- The Dulcinea Effect: Pulled it on Joe, but wasn't able to use it on any of the other Jalapao.
- Ms. Fanservice: Is a model, and considered by her tribemates as well as fans to be very, very good-looking.
- The Tease: The reason why Sandy wanted her gone. She believed that Sydney's flirting with Joe and JT was strategic.
Spencer Duhm
- A Death in the Limelight: Spencer was Out of Focus until his boot episode.
- Doesn't Trust Those Guys: Doesn't mention that he's gay because he assumes that players like J.T. might vote him out for it. To be fair, he was right that J.T. would target him, although it came down more to challenge performance than anything.
- Gayngst: Shown in his boot episode
- Hide Your Gays: As revealed in his last episode.
- Kid Hero: Was only 19 while playing.
- Straight Gay: To the degree that his tribe didn't even know he was gay.
Sandy "Mama K" Burgin
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Talks about some questionable things.
- Cool Old Lady: The oldest woman of the season. Sandy was also a very tough cookie.
- Never Mess with Granny: As Erinn found out at the second challenge.
- Often Known By Their Nickname: Mama K
- Too Dumb to Live: She couldn't figure out what the phrase "ten paces" meant.
- Team Mom: Described as this for Jalapao.
Jerry Sims
- Cool Old Guy: Well Like by his tribe, only voted out due to his illness.
- I Coulda Been a Contender!: The Timbiras were all set to vote Erinn off until he got sick, prompting a Mercy Kill to vote him out instead.
- Team Dad: To Timbira, Erinn described him as such in the rites of passage.
Candace Smith
- The Complainer Is Always Wrong: The first person to go against Coach and tried to convince people he was trouble. They really should have listened.
- Gossipy Hens: See The Complainer Is Always Wrong.
- Ms. Fanservice: As Expected of a Ms. Ohio.
- Sassy Black Woman: Has shades of this, like her response to Brendon & Sierra making a bonfire.
- Tomboy: Called one in her Pre-Game Bio.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: The Tomboy to Erinn's Girly Girl.
Carolina Eastwood
- The Complainer Is Always Wrong: One of the reasons she was targeted first, the other being Wall of Blather.
- Ms. Fanservice: She is pretty good looking
- Pointy-Haired Boss: After losing the challenge, Carolina started telling everyone how to improve the camp.
